2023-07-17 13:56:01
The Economic Committee continued the discussion on the deadly roads. Chairman of the committee, MK David Bitan He thanked the Ministry of Transportation and the minister for considering the committee’s position on the need to take care of Highway 40 and Highway 65 – and asked to carry out comprehensive work on all the dangerous roads within a year and to update the five-year plan accordingly.
The meeting on the subject was held at the request of the MK Hello Daninoand in previous discussions, the committee demanded from the Ministry of Transportation to update regarding the policy and to invest more in roads in the periphery, with an emphasis on the bloody road 40 in the south.
Bitan asked the Ministry of Transportation to report on the continuation of the treatment of the red roads and said that since the last discussion, several fatal accidents have occurred “we don’t have the luxury of waiting.”
Police representative Amir Ghibli He said in the discussion that there are a number of long and dangerous roads where “every accident turns into an attack”, and pointed to the figure that the cost of treating road accidents in Israel is 17 billion shekels per year and the cost of treating the roads is marginal in relation to the expense.
Director of Infrastructure Administration at the Ministry of Transportation, Abner Flor, noted that in the meeting held last week, with Transport Minister Miri Regev, it was agreed that over NIS 9 billion will be invested in the roads of the south in the next five years, and NIS 10 million has already been allocated for the planning of Highway 40. “We will try to reduce traffic accidents as much as possible,” he said. Flor added that other changes were made, among other things it was decided to invest in Route 65.
According to the finance representative, transportation representative in the budget department, Daniel Schwartz, Route 40, which came up several times in the discussion, is not at all in the five-year plan of the Ministry of Transportation and in order to include it in the plan, it is necessary for the Ministry of Transportation to direct the resources there. Chairman Bitan clarified that this is the Ministry of Transportation’s budget, and if he wants to make changes to it, the Treasury should allow it.
According to Flor, the Ministry of Transportation has allocated over NIS 26 billion to take care of the dangerous roads. Includes safety baskets that complement the activity of the infrastructure and maintenance. “We have already carried out a planning procedure from the city of Hebadim to Talalim and after the visit of the Minister of Transportation in Ramat Negev, we will also add crawling and detour routes to Mitzpe Ramon. We have allocated NIS 10 million for planning that will be completed by the end of the year.” The finance representative claimed that the Ministry of Transportation has not yet spoken with them and this is a program that is not currently budgeted. “If the Ministry of Transportation is interested in making a change in the five-year plan, they should talk to us before the budget discussions.”
Omar Brett, a resident of Mitzpe Ramon, said on behalf of the ‘Navakim 40’ headquarters: “We are gathering here in the Knesset’s Economy Committee when we know that the month of August is going to be the busiest month in the history of Route 40. Here we are debating budgets, and statistically there will be another death on this road in the coming month. The writing is on the wall.”
“During Corona, the State of Israel knew how to close the economy in order to save lives, so we want to demand from everyone here to do everything they can to take care of this road and save human lives which are sacred and cannot be priced with money. If this road is not taken care of immediately, then just close it and save families and communities. This is a national danger and a national project that needs to be addressed.”
Eran Doron, the head of the Ramat Negev Council said in the discussion: “This morning just on the way here, I was driving and in front of me a vehicle crossed a white line, overtook a convoy and almost collided with me.” There is nowhere to turn. It happens every day all the time. We need short-term solutions that include traffic signs, traffic police enforcement, which is something you don’t see south of Be’er Sheva, Chakalkot. The planning that Minister Regev talked about was already approved a year ago and in the meantime we have lost this year. We need to make sure that the matter of planning is promoted as quickly as possible.”
MK Bitan said that he spoke with the Ministry of Transportation and suggested that he immediately renovate Route 40 in exchange for postponing the withdrawal of the train to Eilat. “It is also possible to turn the road into a toll road if there are funding problems. In any case, we need to sit at a round table: the police, the ministries of transportation and the finance and find money for the renovation of the road, even at the expense of other projects because the important thing is human life. Already in the current five-year plan, and if necessary, then also add money.”
Until the planning and execution procedures of the major upgrade are finished, MK Bitan proposed to separate lanes without upgrading the road.
Chairman Bitan summarized the discussion on the issue and called on the representatives of the Ministry of Transportation to sit down with the Treasury and the police and see what can be done. He thanked the Ministry of Transportation and the Minister for considering the committee’s position, saying that this is the public’s position. Chairman Bitan also requested that a comprehensive work be presented to the committee within a year from today about all the roads that need urgent treatment and added: “This time you will surprise us and do it faster.”
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